The Best Servants
by ladyanaconda
Summary: Shoft-fic. Xibalba's servants have been loyal and faithful to him, but they don't retain any memories of their time as living humans. When a chance to become human again comes in the form of a contest held in Aztlan, they will have to make a choice; remain under Xibalba's servitude, or turn into humans... at the cost of leaving their master forever. Co-written with Neagoieolivia.
1. Chapter 1

**Everyone, first of all I'm going to say this fic was planned and written by my friend Neagoieolivia, I gave her my permission to use my lizard Ocs as the main characters, since she is from another country I corrected any grammatical and spelling mistakes she might have made, and since she doesn't have a fanfiction account, she asked me to publish it. Technically this is a co-writing.**

 **Credit for the story plot and any other Ocs not mine goes to Neagoieolivia. The Lizards belong to me.**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

It wasn't unknown that Xibalba's servants were among the best in all the realms. They were known by their European heritage and the loyalty that they had for their master, no matter who he was. In this case, Xibalba was the Lord and Master of the Land of the Forgotten, which practically meant they only obeyed direct orders from him and, well, his wife to some extent and matters. But from all his servants, five of them were remarkably close to Xibalba, tough none of them forgot their place as simple servitude... most of the time, at least.

That morning started as usual. The servants awakened and got ready for the day before their master so that they could prepare breakfast for him, and take it to his room, just like he liked. An hour later, there was a knock on Xibalba's door. The dark god muttered as he threw the covers off him, letting out a yawn and stretching out his wings.

"Come in!" Xibalba said as he put on his bathrobe.

"Good morning, my lord. Breakfast is served." He heard Emilio's voice from behind the door.

"Just leave it on the table, I'll bring the empty plates down when I am done." He glanced at the lizard. " _Gracias_ , Emilio."

"If you don't need me for the moment, I'll be taking my leave." With a small bow, Emilio walked out of the room.

From all their years of serving this particular god, the lizards knew Xibalba's likes and dislikes like the palm of their hands. They knew how much sugar and milk he liked in his favorite type of coffee, they knew his favorite wine brands and the ones he detested, they knew he liked his pillows fluffed and the bed warmer on winter nights, so it was not a surprise that they knew their master had a more European taste than most of the pantheon, as well as a big appetite. His breakfast consisted two perfectly cooked eggs seasoned with pepper, two slices of golden, crunchy bacon and boiled sausages. On another plate, there was some toast with blueberry jam and honey. It was also known that Xibalba was a great coffee drinker, so a big cup of coffee accompanied the dishes as complement. After enjoying his breakfast, Xibalba dressed up, putting on his armor, gloves and crown, giving his moustaches and beard a small brush, and, like he said he would, picked the empty plates from the tea table and made his way to the kitchen. It was the least he could do for them, his servants already had many chores to deal with.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the lizards who had finished some of their morning chores enjoyed a cup of coffee as well.

''Regina, I have no idea how you made that breakfast, but it looked simply delicious. You said that you wanted to try new recipes, right?" Emilio inquired.

"Yes, but I still wonder if Lord Xibalba liked it." Regina replied, taking a sip from her coffee.

" Are you nuts?! He loves it. You always prepare the best dishes." Roberto chuckled, before wincing. "The only one who can actually cook something edible, though."

Regina blushed. "Ay Roberto, thank you. I do hope that as well. I could make you some later if you want."

"That wouldn't be necessary, but thank you, anyway."

"Anytime."

Just then, Xibalba entered the kitchen and placed the empty plates on the table. All the lizards stood up and gave him a respectful bow.

The dark god smiled at the female lizard. "Thank you for the breakfast, Regina. New recipes?"

"Yes, my lord. " Regina smiled at him, showing more confidence than the others. She was indeed one of the lizards who was the closest to Xibalba. Being the only female in that place, her treatment was slightly different from the rest, both from her master and the rest of the lizards.

"Is there anything else that you need, My Lord?" asked Emilio.

"Only check if there is any mail for me today. I will be in my study for the time being."

"Very well, my lord"

As Xibalba walked out of the kitchen, all the servants went back to their chores. Emilio headed towards the entrance gate to the castle as usual to look for any mail that his master may have received. He found a few envelopes of different colors and seals, but one caught his attention. Judging by it's appearance, it must be something very important. The envelope was golden and there were golden swirls adorning its sides. Emilio rushed to his master's study and knocked the door being, waiting until his master gave him permission to enter.

"This is the mail for today, My Lord"

"Thank you." As Xibalba checked the envelopes, the gold one with the seal of Aztlan caught his attention. "Emilio?"

" Yes, My Lord?" the lizard inquired.

"When did this letter arrive?" Xibalba asked him, opening the envelope and taking a read at the letter.

"It must have arrived last night, I think."

As Xibalba read the letter, he remained frozen in shock. It came directly from the Kings.

"Emilio, fetch Regina, Lorenzo, Juarez and Roberto and meet me in the throne room in five minutes."

Whatever that letter said, he had the feeling it was not good. Still, Emilio nodded and rushed out of the room. He technically dragged Roberto from his 'morning nap', then rushed all the way outside to fetch Juarez, casually finding Lorenzo there moving some hay stacks, and finally he went to the kitchen to fetch Regina, who was in the middle of preparing tea. The lizards met back in the throne room, where Xibalba was already waiting for them, sitting on his throne with a solemn expression. Most of them were panting heavily from having to run all out of sudden without being able to take a breath.

Juarez was the first to speak as soon as he regained his lost breath. "Is there anything that we can do for you, My Lord?"

It took Xibalba a few seconds to answer. "Seems like… I am not the only one who appreciates your services ...or at least tries to obtain them."

"What do you mean?" Roberto asked.

"This…" Xibalba showed them the golden envelope and the letter. "… is a letter from Aztlan. It seems like Tezcatlipoca's servants went… well, you know… and now he is making a contest to select other servants to replace them. It says here that all the servants from each realm have to organize a ball. A ball which every god will be attending and, of course, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl will declare the winners on the event."

The incredibly loud 'what?!' echoed though the castle, it resounded so much in that room that Xibalba had to cover his ears. Regina, Emilio, Roberto, Juarez and Lorenzo were speechless, they had never thought about the possibility of ever leaving their master. But being servants in Aztlan...It was known that all the servitude in Aztlan was turned into deceased humans, in the rare occasions that they were any other type of creature, before taking their duties. This could be a good chance for them to see what it meant to have the memories back, and know who they really were before serving in The Land of the Forgotten. IT was strange, they had no memories of their lives in the Land of the Living, and not even Xibalba could bring them back, since he didn't even know what caused that strange phenomena in the first place. Maybe the Land of the Forgotten was true to its name, and it wiped the memories of the half-transformed. If they could win… maybe the Kings could restore their memories back…

But at what price?

Juarez spoke again. "The Kings want _US_ to participate at that contest?"

"Well, Juarez, it says here that all the servants _must_ participate, but only one team will be selected."

"Wait, if _all_ the servants from _all_ the realms will compete, this means that… La Muerte's servants will be there as well... " Regina sighed in dismay.

"You mean...? Argh!" Roberto groaned in frustration, taking a hand to his forehead. "Great, just great! This is the last thing we need!"

Xibalba was surprised at their tone. "What do you mean? "

"Santiago and Ronela!" the five lizards, Lorenzo included, technically spat the names.

"What's wrong with La Muerte's servants?" There were times when Xibalba thought his wife's servitude was...well, to put it lightly...better trained than his staff in certain things. But to him, it didn't matter how good other gods' servants were, he would _never_ even think of replacing Emilio and the rest. In fact, under these circumstances, Xibalba was starting to worry at the idea of losing them. Sure, they would get a better lif-err, afterlife if they served one of the Kings, he was certain Tezcatlipoca would be more than pleased if he were to choose them, but… He'd miss them very much; they were almost like family to him.

"Oh, nothing at all, My Lord. Just the fact that ...well, considering we had to organize your wedding along with…" Roberto's fins bristled as he spoke with grit teeth. " _Them_..."

"What happened that you speak like that about them?" Xibalba inquired, standing up from his throne and looking down at his servants in surprise.

"Let's say that we didn't get along too well..." Regina growled with crossed arms. "And I am certain that this time it won't be different."

"Regina is right, My Lord." Emilio commented, and the other lizards nodded in agreement. "But I guess we don't have much of a choice..."

Xibalba sighed. "No, you don't. _Unfortunately_."

"But why are you guys worrying so much about it? We won't win, anyway." Roberto shrugged.

"Why not, Roberto? Do you think the teams from the other realms are better than you? "

"It doesn't really matter what we think, My Lord. It's only that we will have some pretty tough competition." Regina implied, sighing sadly.

"Eyup." Lorenzo nodded.

Xibalba sighed. "Anyway, tomorrow we must go to Aztlan, and you five are coming with me. All the staff groups with their respective masters will be there." He nodded at them, motioning them to go. "Go have rest, you'll need all the energy possible."

"Yes, My Lord."

With a last bow, the five left the room with uncertain expressions. Once they were out of their master's sight, they rushed towards the staff room. It was surprisingly big, and the beds were wide, Xibalba took no expenses in affording the best comfort for his staff. Luckily, the rest of the lizards were doing their chores, so they wouldn't be interrupted. They had to discuss this important matter in private.

"On my scales! Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?!" Juarez asked enthusiastically.

"No, Juarez, much better!" Roberto chirped.

Emilio glanced at him. "What do you mean, Roberto?"

"I mean... Imagine it! This is our chance to become humans again, and beat Santiago and Ronela once and for all." Roberto grinned evilly. "Those sweet corpses think that they are better than us in every way possible just because we have scales and tails, I can't wait to rub our victory into their faces! They are nothing but lazy, two-faced dumbs!"

"You've said it, Roberto." Regina nodded proudly. "But if we _do_ win, it means that we'll have to leave Xibalba alone…" her smile disappeared in realization. "There are the others, but… I don't like the idea of leaving him…"

"I agree with you in that one, Regina! We can't do this to Lord Xibalba!" Emilio said loudly, almost shouting.

Roberto couldn't believe it. "Guys! Are you two listening to yourselves? This might be our only chance to find out who we were! How we looked like! Where we lived! And are you going to let this opportunity slip from your hands? Are you serious?!" He felt attached to Xibalba too, but it was their identity they were talking about, for goodness sake!

Speechless, Regina and Emilio stared at Roberto, and then exchanged glances. Maybe he was right on this one…just maybe. It wasn't pleasant not remembering who they had been in life, if they had a life at all.

"I agree with him!" All looks turned to Juarez. " Roberto is right. This can be our only chance. We have little chance to win this competition, but who knows? Maybe if we do our best, we might win! And we ask the kings to restore out memories!"

"Eyup!" Lorenzo added, rather excitedly.

It was official. Roberto, Juarez and Lorenzo were too delighted at the idea of becoming humans they were forgetting how long they had served Xibalba and how well he had treated them all these years. Regina and Emilio were on their own in this one, but what else could they do about it? They had to obey the rules. The Kings had ordered it, and their word was the law for everyone.

* * *

The next day came faster than they had expected. They took breakfast hastily and headed to Aztlan early in the morning, where many gods had already arrived with part of their best staff. Now, all five of them awaited with Xibalba in front of doors of the throne room, in the majestic main temple of Aztlan.

Xibalba glanced down at the lizards, noting they were trembling lightly. "Are you guys nervous?"

"N-No, My Lord. Not a bit" Juarez simply said, stuttering a bit.

Actually, their hearts were drumming and they thought they would burst out of their chests at any moment. Just the thought of meeting Santiago and Ronela once more made them have a headache. They didn't like the idea. Just then, La Muerte crossed the doors and floated down the carpet to meet her husband.

"Hi, Xibalba" La Muerte smiled, leaning in for a kiss. Xibalba gladly accepted it and returned it passionately.

"Hola, _mi amor_. " he whispered seductively.

La Muerte turned her attention at the lizards. The five of them gave their Lord's Lady a small bow. She smiled at them. "I haven't seen you in a while, guys. Are you here for the competition too? I received the invitation yesterday."

Regina was the first to reply, smiling. "We are glad to see you again as well, My Lady."

"Well, look who decided to show up."

"If it isn't the scaly troupe..."

Speak of the devil. All looks turned in the direction of the sound, and the lizards muttered under their breath as they turned towards the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

* * *

Ever since the lizards had met Santiago and Ronela, they got a very bad impression about them. They were practically the perfect servants in front of La Muerte, but secretly they showed their true colors. Just hearing about them made the lizards shift in discomfort.

Now the lizards had to conceal their hatred and dislike towards them, since their masters were also watching them...though one lizard in particular didn't mind about his Lord's presence.

"Santiago and Ronela.. .it's nice to know that you can actually see ahead of your noses. And for your information, we know that we have scales… and we are heck proud of them!" Roberto lashed out at them.

"Sure you are," added Ronela. "But you just don't like to show it, right?"

Xibalba and La Muerte were surprised by the hostility between their servants. This was very strange, they had just met once for a few days, what could have happened between them to make them act so hostile with each other?

"Alright Roberto, that's enough." Xibalba looked down at Roberto with a scolding glare. "This is not the time and place, guys." La Muerte nodded in agreement.

"Well, My Lord..." Santiago stopped when the doors of the throne room opened, and all the rulers with their servants were allowed in. The brothers were sitting in their mighty thrones , waiting for everyone to come in. The gods gave their kings the respective bows and so did their servants. Of all the lizards, Regina was the one who could not take her eyes off the Kings. Finally, Tezcatlipoca stood up and started to talk.

"My Lords and Ladies, I believe all of you received the letters that we sent to you. Since we are in need for another team of servitude, me and my brother decided to organize a small contest. Each one of you will have the opportunity to organize a ball. Each team will have a week to organize it. This contest will take place here in Aztlan, in the main ball room."

The other gods nodded in agreement. Quetzalcóatl was the next to speak.

"This contest comes with a few rules. The servants will do everything on their own"

"That's right. Their masters are not allowed to interfere in any way. Also, during the ball, some servants in particular will be tested. We'll choose several of you, and test you individually." This time Tezcatlipoca directed his words to the servants. Regina, of all the other servants in the room, finally found the courage to speak .

"My Kings?"

Everybody turned their attention on the small lizard who showed no signs of fear. Even Xibalba was surprised, so much that he almost gave her a scolding look.

"What is it?" Tezcatlipoca inquired.

"Must the ball be organized about a particular theme? And if it has to, which would that be?"

The Kings glanced at each other in surprise, not because of the question, but because she actually had the courage to ask. Tezcatlipoca approached her, seeing that she didn't fear him at all. "It is a free subject. You may choose whatever theme you desire. Thank you for asking, though. You are very focused on details, aren't you?"

"I just thought it was essential to know."

Tezcatlipoca looked at Xibalba, and then at his brother. It seemed they found their first target to test. All this time, Santiago didn't take his eyes off Regina. The way she talked, how brave she was...He could say he was impressed. Of all the lizards, he could say that Regina was his least ...disliked? In a way he felt very interested in her. Unfortunately, Emilio took notice of that, but for the moment, he decided not to make any comments.

"To determine the order, I will be asking you, My Lords, to come forward and extract a number." Tezcatlipoca held out a golden basket with some folded notes in it. Each God approached and extracted a number from 1 to 13.

Xibalba was the last to get a note, and when he opened it, he saw the number 13 on it. This meant that his servants would be the last to organize the ball. Surprisingly ,La Muerte's servants were the 12th team to organize the ball.

"This will be all you have to know. Good luck to all of you." Tezcatlipoca looked down to the servants, who gave the Kings a small bow.

Each God, with their servants, retreated back to their realm. Once they had arrived back to the castle, Regina left without saying a word, leaving Emilio, Juarez, Roberto, Lorenzo and Xibalba in the throne room.

"What happened to her? "asked Roberto, concerned.

"You know how women are: emotional and very sensitive. Maybe all of this affected her in a way..." added Juarez with a shrug, though he didn't really know how Regina's mind in particular worked.

"No, Regina would never act this way. I know her." Emilio defended her.

"You have 13 weeks to think about the ball. For now, try to forget about everything...clear your minds and relax." Xibalba suggested.

"They are already pretty clean..." Roberto muttered angrily, but thankfully Xibalba didn't understand what he meant by that, though the others did.

"My Lord, these 13 weeks will eventually pass, we'll have our turn and..."

Xibalba shook his head sadly. "No, I cannot help you with anything, remember? It's the rules that we must follow. You're on your own this time." His gaze hardened as he looked down at Roberto. "But let me ask you something. Was it really necessary to act that way, Roberto? You didn't have to make such a scene!"

"My Lord, if you would know Santiago and Ronela are really like, you would understand." Still, Robert knew he had probably embarrassed him in front of his wife, and he looked down regretfully. "I am sorry if I acted so bad."

"It's alright. I will be going out with La Muerte tonight, so don't bother to prepare dinner."

Emilio nodded. "Very well, My Lord. If you don't need anything else, we would like to retreat."

Xibalba nodded, motioning them to go. He was very worried right now. Regina had never acted this way before. There was a strange energy in his servants now, an energy that gave him a bad feeling. And there was also a change in Roberto, a negative one.

Indeed, of all the others, Roberto was the one who had changed the most ever since he heard the news. This was his chance to...to see who he really was, and get away from this place. He was determined to win this contest, he and the others.

But in Regina's case, this contest was apparently making her feel depressed and empty. She could never leave her Lord. She has been there when he was born, she had seen him grow and become the man he is right now. She had to choose what was more important to her, Lord Xibalba or her own memories. It was difficult for her to conceal her emotions and feelings, though. She was never good at that.

"Regina?"

At the familiar voice, Regina immediately wiped her tears away and tried to pretend she was calm.

"Are you alright?" Emilio inquired, stepping into the kitchen. "You left all of sudden without saying a word."

"I'm sorry, Emilio. I remembered that I left something in the oven. Xibalba will have to wait a bit more for his dinner."

"Oh, don't worry, he said he is going out on a date with La Muerte tonight... And I know that you didn't leave anything in the oven, you'd never do that, you're too responsible for that..." he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, you can tell me. What happened?"

She couldn't hide it anymore. She buried her face in her palms and started to sob. "We can't leave him, Emilio! I don't want to compete, I don't want to win, but I also want my memories back! What should I do?"

Emilio didn't know what to say. He had similar feelings. Recovering his memories was very important, but if they had to leave their master behind after all they had been through together… "I...I don't know. We have to follow the rules. Everybody has to participate. I don't like this either, but… what can we do? We were created to obey the rules."

It didn't convince her. "Emilio, even if Akrinok was our master now, I wouldn't want to leave. Lady Selena, the boys, the castle... the kitchen." She leaned on his chest and hugged him while crying. Emilio was taken by surprise and his cheeks turned green, but nevertheless he gladly returned the hug. These weeks would be _very_ long.

* * *

Weeks passed, leaving behind them only more worries and anxiety. Ball after ball took place in Aztlan, Xibalba participating at all of them. He had to admit that he was impressed. All the balls were impeccably organized, and the kings were pleased. The next ones were La Muerte's servants. He had great expectations from them. But what had him worried right now was the fact that in just two more weeks, his servants would have to prove what they can do. Ever since they found out about the contest, the usual arguments, jokes and laughter could not be heard in his castle anymore. Did this affect them that much? He hardly saw them that much during this time, making him wonder if they didn't blame him for what was happening. Were they so obsessed with winning this? Had they been making plans for so long? He didn't understand the change in his servants.

He was waiting outside the doors of the ballroom in Aztlan, accompanying his wife as she paced around, wondering how things were going

"Are you nervous, _mi amor_?" he asked her in concern.

"What?" La Muerte glanced at her husband. "Oh... just a bit. You know... I'm afraid of losing them, Xibalba. Though there's something I don't understand. Why are our servants not getting along?"

"Emilio and the others said that… Well, they say they are not as good as they seem. "

"You mean... they think that my servants are two faced? Santiago and Ronela are not like that!"

"My Lord and Lady?"

Al the gods turned their attention toward the door where Santiago just opened them, inviting the deities to go in. Xibalba allowed his wife to enter first. When he came in, he had to cover his eyes from all the light, he was accustomed to the darkness. As soon as he got used with it, Xibalba gasped in amazement. The ball room was adorned with golden ornaments and the chandelier was burning a warm shade of red while candles were illuminating the room from below. The table was perfectly arranged as well. A red mantle covered the surface of the table. Thirteen sets of golden plates were placed at perfect distance from one another. Arrangements of gold and red flowers adorned the table, while crystal glasses were also placed in front of them. The kings were placed at the head of the table while the others had to find their own place. Naturally, Xibalba was seated next to La Muerte. He admitted it now; his servants certainly would have a tough competition.

* * *

Back in the Land of the Forgotten, the five lizards had a small meeting when they could talk this matter in detail. The negative energy was still present among them, Roberto and Regina exchanging glares every now and then.

"One week. This is all we have to organize the most wonderful, spectacular ball that ever took place in Aztlan." Roberto stated.

"Yes Roberto, but how do you plan to make that? We are not... like the others." Emilio retorted.

"What are you implying with that, Emilio?" Juarez frowned. "That we are not good enough to win this?"

"No, that's not what I meant with that!"

"What was it then?" added Roberto with crossed arms.

"We don't have all the strength, and money, and… ideas...and .."

"Arrogance? Because of how you actually say it you compare us with...some other dead servants, like Santiago and Ronela."

"Don't even mention their names!"

Emilio glanced at Regina, who looked more exhausted than usual. It was clear that she hadn't slept for many nights, and she often cried. He was the only one she talked with these weeks. There was a war deep inside her. A war that didn't let her have peace, a war between her mind and her heart, a war she could not escape from.

"Well, does anyone have any ideas? Ideas that we can actually apply and use?" Juarez decided to interrupt the scene before another fight broke out.

"Well, tomorrow we go there and we will see how big the ball room actually is. I have some ideas for the decorations. All the other teams tried to make the ball very illuminated and... none of them chose their own masters as a theme." Roberto said.

"What? The Lords are not allowed to get involved." Emilio stated.

"Yes, but no one said that we can't use them as our theme"

"I don't want to sound rude, but... Lord Xibalba is not exactly the… well, that kind of guy... nor that colorful. He is dark." Juarez sighed in dismay.

"Exactly!"

All the lizards were staring at Roberto in confusion. What did he mean by that?

"Why try to pretend that we are someone who we're not? We are not like Santiago and Ronela!"

At these words, Regina reacted. Could he be right? How could they be themselves if they didn't even know who they are? That was the moment Regina made her decision, ending the internal war that was devouring her slowly.

"Indeed we are not..."

Everyone's attention turned to Regina, who had a very serious expression on her face.

"How can we be someone if we don't even know who we are? "

In surprise, Emilio took a step back, asking her with this action about her change of mind. There was a change in her. Her eyes turned cold, almost wild, her smile faded, the only thing that could be seen on her face was pure determination. "What do you mean Regina?"

She glanced at him. "I mean that we must win this! We have to if we all want our memories back. This ball has to be the most perfect, regal, grand yet simple ball that was ever created. I am not taking any chances in having the probability to lose." She looked at Roberto. "We have a ball to organize. Each of us will come with ideas in the morning, after we actually see the ballroom. Till then, back to our chores."

Three of the lizards nodded. As Regina said, or rather ordered them to, they went back to their duties, all but Emilio. He remained alone alone. He was standing in the throne room, all alone with a throne. His master's throne.

Soon, thoughts and flashbacks from his master's childhood came into his mind. He remembered the day Xibalba was crowned King of The Land of the Forgotten. He remembered his master's wedding, his Lord's first child, his moments of happiness and grief. Oh, how many times Xibalba called for him just to ask for some piece of advice!

He couldn't find the heart to leave his Lord. He cared for him too much. He was alone and this time it was him who got immersed in a war... one even worse than the one Regina had gone through. He would have to choose between two persons that he loved...

His master...or the love of his life.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

As expected, the week before the ball, Xibalba hardly saw his servants anymore. Most of the day, they were in Aztlan, preparing the ballroom for the event. Although they were busy, the lizards did not forget about their master's needs, and so every day they would awaken earlier than usual to leave prepared anything they thought he would need. After seeing the ball that La Muerte's servants held, Xibalba was relieved in a kind of way, he knew that his servants were great, but maybe not up to his wife's servants' standards.

Indeed, the five lizards took their chores seriously. Hoping that the kings would be impressed, so much that they would choose them as their new servants. Everything was perfectly kept a secret, not even Xibalba had discovered what they were planning, but whatever it was, Xibalba knew that it was grand and beautiful. He knew them that much.

And it was...or at least they hoped so. Sitting in the ball room, the lizards had time to admire what they had just accomplished.

"I don't know about you guys, but I am so damn proud of this!" Roberto laughed, crossing his arms. "Whose idea was it again?"

"Yes Roberto, it's beautiful indeed." Regina said, rolling her eyes, then looking back at the ballroom. "I just hope we'll impress them as well"

"Don't worry, Regina, they will be..." Juarez added

"You sound so sure"

"Dear Regina, I am a 100 percent sure they will love it"

"Tomorrow is the big day, guys, don't you think we should go home and...celebrate?" Roberto asked

"Celebrate what?" Emilio inquired.

"Our last day as lizards?" Roberto answered matter-of-factly.

Four of the lizards agreed with the idea and headed back home.

ALL but one...

Emilio was pacing around the ballroom, staring at all the preparations and decorations they just did. Again, he could not believe that tomorrow, if they actually won this contest, they would regain their memories and... leave Xibalba forever. He had decided to play along for the others, but deep down, no matter how much Regina and the others meant to him, his Lord was more important.

Suddenly, he felt a presence in the room, and heard some footsteps. Immediately, Emilio turned the lights off so that nothing would be seen, the element of surprise was very important for this.

"You don't have to turn the lights off, Emilio... I already saw what I wanted to see."

Emilio narrowed his eyes. "Really? In that case, why don't you let me see what I want to see as well?"

From the shadows, a skeletal figure who Emilio immediately recognized stepped forward.

"I didn't know you were so interested in seeing how my face looks like, Emilio. You are very much full of surprises, indeed."

"You have no idea… Santiago. I don't know why I'm even surprised to see you here. I knew you wanted take lessons from us."

Santiago scoffed. "Lessons from _you_?!"

Emilio smirked. "Well, yes. Otherwise, why would you spy on us?"

"I do admit, you managed to surprise me this time. But it won't be enough to impress the Kings." Now it was Santiago's turn to smirk. "Too bad you didn't see how _our_ ball was. You could have taken some notes."

"I heard that _not_ all the gods were impressed."

"Our interest is to impress _two_. That's all."

"Then why did you invite the rest as well? Or let me ask you something else… Why do you want to impress the Kings in the first place?" Emilio shook his head, confused. "You have your memories, you are humans… well, at least you were. Why do you want to leave La Muerte?"

"...Because..."

"Just because you want to work in Aztlan?"

"The best servants deserve the best Lords and realms."

"So, you just want to..."

"Be appreciated"

Emilio couldn't believe what he was hearing. "La Muerte appreciates you! She thinks highly of you and has you in high esteem! You just don't see it!"

"Maybe... But what about you? Why are you part in this if you don't even want to leave Xibalba?"

"I do it for the rest."

Santiago chuckled darkly. "And by the rest of them, you mean Regina."

At the mention of her name, Emilio's expression darkened, his eyes becoming cold and all the amusement gone away from his face.

"What about her? I do this for all of them, not just for her."

"But it's especially _her_."

"As I can see, it seems that you are quite interested in her as well." Emilio's tone was not friendly in the least. "I've seen the way you look at Regina."

"And does it bother you?"

At those words, Emilio knew that he was cornered. Was it that obvious? Damn it! At this moment, all Emilio wanted to do was to kill the jerk in front of him, though he knew that it would be improper to do so. But maybe he could win this... in a smarter, and scary way. Everything is permitted in war and love, after all.

"It does, very much." Surprisingly, Emilio gave him a mischievous smile. His eyes turned cold, the shade of green turning into a glowing blue. He was boiling with anger, but luckily, he was a master at concealing his emotions, so he didn't show it. "But something bothers me way more than that."

Santiago couldn't help but feel intimidated by the lizard's expression. "W-What exactly?"

Emilio went to the door and opened it, motioning him to the opened doorway. "You had an entire week to be in this room. Make yourself a favor and leave before I call the guards."

Seeing no other option, Santiago left the room, and returned to the Land of the Remembered, while Emilio retreated back to his master's castle. He decided to check if there was anything his master needed, and the best place to find him at this hour was his study; he headed to the study doors and knocked.

"Come in!"

Emilio entered the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

"Ah, Emilio, I was just thinking about sending for you." Xibalba sighed, struggling to keep a pile of paperwork and another of letters on foot. "I need your help with some paperwork and some letters."

Emilio nodded. "Of course, My Lord."

But right before he could take a step closer to the desk and take a look at the letters, the doors of the study opened again, and Regina poked her head in.

"Oh, I figured I would find you here." She directed her words at Emilio, forgetting Xibalba was present as well, apparently. "We need your help, Emilio. We have a small problem with the crystal glasses, some of them are missing."

Emilio was speechless. He realized he'd have to make yet another decision. But he was quick to make a choice; after all, he hadn't seen Xibalba for a week.

"I am sorry, Regina, but Lord Xibalba just asked for my help, and he did it before you." He said, closing his eyes shut in resignation. "You guys know where the glasses are. Search some more, surely Luis or Gael moved them to the bottom." He turned his back on her regretfully. "I can't help you right now."

Regina was taken aback by his reaction. "B-But Emilio, we need your help. The ball is tomorrow! I am sure that this matter can be delayed a bit!"

Before Xibalba could tell Emilio that it was okay, that he could handle it, and that he could go t help the others, Emilio spoke again, his voice cold and serious as he glanced back at Regina. "I think I have delayed it for long enough! I said I will help Lord Xibalba! What part of that sentence didn't you understand?!"

At those words, both Xibalba and Regina remained speechless and frozen in shock. She wanted to say something, but she had the feeling he would not budge. With nothing else to say, Regina left the room, bewildered.

Emilio walked towards the desk and took the letters in his hands, classifying them from sender and color, separating them after giving them quick reads. Meanwhile, Xibalba was staring at him in shock. Emilio had never lashed out at Regina like that before, and he always excused himself to go and help the others. He decided not to say anything for the time being, however. He guessed that his sudden change in mood was because of all the stress and anxiety for tomorrow. Now, more than ever, Xibalba sensed the negative energy surrounding his castle, drawing everybody in it's dark purpose. No matter what happened tomorrow, Xibalba still kept his hopes up, but deep down, a bad feeling took root.

* * *

That night passed quickly, and next morning, once again all the Gods were waiting, for the last time, in front of the ballroom's doors. Xibalba's heart was drumming inside his chest, but he did his best not to show it. Naturally, La Muerte noticed and took his hand reassuringly.

"Balby, everything will be okay." She smiled. "You'll see. It will be perfect."

Xibalba sighed. "I know. That's what's worrying me, my dear."

"You are afraid that the Kings might choose them. I understand, but what can we do?"

Just before he could answer, the doors of the ball room opened, and a bit of fog came out through the door. Surprisingly, they didn't see any of the lizards coming to invite them in, like the rest of the servants had done. The gods exchanged glances, but Xibalba motioned the Kings to go inside, and he and the rest of the pantheon followed suit. Once they were all inside, the doors closed shut right behind them, startling a few goddesses, La Muerte included, and leaving the room in complete darkness, the only light came from the candles in their attires and their auras.

"Welcome, My Lords."

Startled, all deities turned to the direction where the voice came from, only to spot Emilio a few steps away, holding a candle in his hand. La Muerte was the first to speak.

"Emilio, what are you doing?" she inquired. "Why is there no light?"

"I am sorry, My Lady, but I'm afraid I can't tell you."

"And why not?" Xibalba asked this time, though he kept his cool: He knew his servants, they were up to something, and it was a good thing.

"I'm afraid we don't trust you enough to share that secret. You'll have to earn our trust."

The Kings exchanged looks in surprise. The other gods had similar reactions.

Tezcatlipoca spoke next. "And how can we do that?"

"By answering a question. A single question. This question will allow us to open up and reveal the dark secrets we hold to you."

Xibalba looked down at Emilio, staring at him in a questioning way. He if he had rehearsed this, if he did, he had done a pretty good job.

"Ask your question." Tezcatlipoca spoke once more.

Emilio smiled at them, and looked down before speaking again.

"Lord Xibalba's darkest secret is…?" Emilio blew out the candle and disappeared into the darkness.

An extremely loud 'WHAT?!' echoed in the dark room.

"Xibalba's darkest secret?"

"What kind of question is this?"

"Xibalba?"

Xibalba looked at the rest of the gods, uncertain, he obviously had no idea of what he had meant with that. Quetzalcoatl decided to intervene. "Leave Lord Xibalba alone. Remember, the masters are not allowed to help their servants in any way. It appears that we will have to answer the question by ourselves." He glanced at La Muerte; she was his wife, perhaps she had an idea as to what Emilio meant.

She shook her head. "Oh no… I know many of his secrets, but not the darkest one… I think." She glanced at Xibalba suspiciously.

Xibalba chuckled in amusement. "Good luck with that."

"Maybe The Pit?"

"No, that is no secret! The only secret is how to get inside!"

"His realm?"

"Seriously?"

All the gods started inspecting Xibalba from head to toe, much to the latter's discomfort. Maybe this was easier than they thought. Tezcatlipoca was the first to connect the dots. "Xibalba's darkest secret". He examined him a little more, before he spoke. "Your darkest secret are your wings"

Xibalba blinked. "What? My wings?"

"Yes. Because they are the darkest part of you, even darker than your cloak. One more reason would be the scars on them. Scars that hold secrets themselves..."

All of sudden the room was filled with light. Momentarily, all the gods had to cover their eyes from the sudden illumination. They let out a gasp in pure amazement.

The walls were painted in a reddish shade of purple adorned with silvery lace-like decorations. The chandelier was burning a different shade of purple, the light reflecting on the silver decorations. The crystals on the chandelier were shaped like small skulls, each skull burning an individual color.

The table was covered with a dark purple tablecloth, and 15 sets of silver plates were perfectly arranged. Curiously, on each set, the cutlery had individual decorations, each god having his/their own colored diamond set. Crystal glasses were placed in front of the plates at a perfect distance from one another. Only a few candles lit the table, all the light was reflecting on the crystal and silver.

Everyone was speechless at the sight. The way the light was playing in the room. The personalized cutlery, the chandelier that lit the room in the most intriguing way... Amazing would not be enough to describe the beauty of this once dark room that was symbolizing Xibalba's heart, once filled with darkness, but once his secrets are revealed, the most beautiful side of him was as well.

The Gods went to their seats, guided by the individual colors. Again, Xibalba was seated next to his wife, but apparently he was also placed next to Quetzalcóatl, who sat at the head of the table.

"I have never seen anything like this before. This is ...amazing." Tlaloc said, examining his surroundings, and for the first time ever envying something Xibalba had.

Xibalba gave a small smile, even though he was now freaking out. If Tlaloc of all people showed such signs of bewilderment, he was sure that the Kings were impressed as well. They were.

"My Lords."

All the gods looked down at Emilio with a sigh of admiration and...Anxiety.

"Dinner is served." The rest of the lizards, who carried trays of food while Lorenzo pushed a cart with the rest of the trays, entered the room and served the meals carefully, before leaving as quietly as they came. Before Emilio could leave the room, Quetzalcóatl spoke.

"Wait!"

Emilio turned to him. "Is there anything you need, My Lord?"

"I'd like to know who cooked these dishes."

At the question, Emilio's expression softened. "Regina made them, My Lord."

"Please tell Regina to come here for a moment." Tezcatlipoca glanced at his brother, who nodded in agreement. Emilio nodded, and gave a small bow before leaving the room.

Tlaloc was devouring his food, forgetting about manners. "Mmm..this is delicious. Did that female lizard really make all of these?"

Xibalba decided to take advantage of the situation to rub it in Tlaloc's face for once. "Yes. This tastes like she would have made it." He smirked.

"What do you mean, Xibalba? That she always cooks like this?"

"Yes, Tlaloc, this is the kind of food I eat daily."

Since the gods were too distracted in seeing Tlaloc's fuming expression and Xibalba's taunting one, The Kings were inspecting every single detail, and communicated through glances and nods. Soon, Regina entered the room and gave the respectful bow to the Gods. "You called for me, My Lords?"

"Yes, Regina. I did." Tezcatlipoca nodded.

"Is there anything I can do for you, My Lord?"

"Yes. How did you make these? Any special recipes?"

Regina smiled. "Oh, these are not my recipes, My Lord. Most of these are Lady..." She glanced at Xibalba awaiting for his approval, and continued when he nodded."…Selena's."

Quetzalcóatl spoke next. "And how did you choose the dishes?"

"I chose Lord's Xibalba favorites." She glanced at Xibalba amusingly.

"You are a very skilled cook, Regina. I am thinking… How you would work in a bigger kitchen?" Tezcatlipoca added with a small smile.

At those words Xibalba froze, though luckily only La Muerte noticed. Xibalba tried his best to keep calm, but he was failing miserably, especially when he saw the smile on Regina's face... Wait a minute, she was… Would she…?

"I think I would cook even better, My Lords."

"Even if you would have the same team as you already do?"

"Yes, My Lords."

"But...I have one more question. Would you work better if you worked for somebody else? If you had to leave lord Xibalba?"

Silence.

Xibalba nearly choked on his _empanada_ , but when he managed to calm down, he glanced at Regina, breathing heavily, afraid as she struggled to find the words.

Regina was at a loss of words. Did this mean…? Suddenly the confidence vanished into thin air as she caught a glimpse of Xibalba's hurt… no… _betrayed_ expression. A minute ago she would have left Xibalba without even thinking about it, but now… waves of memories returned to her...

 _Lady Selena's newborn infant had apparently taken a sort of liking to her, every time he heard her voice he'd reach out for her and give a small smile._

 _"_ _Regi! Regi!"_

 _"_ _Regina, I glided! Did you see?! Did you see?!"_

 _"Could you sing mamá's lullaby for me...?"_

 _"_ _Happy birthday, Regina!"_

 _"_ _T-Thanks… For being there…"_

 _"_ _Why don't you take the day off? You look like you could take a break."_

 _"_ _You never cease to surprise me, Regina."_

 _"_ _Regina, I'm getting married! Can you believe it?"_

 _"_ _I'm going to be a father!"_

 _"T-The baby... He wasn't... He d-didn't..."_

 _"What would I do without you, Regi?"_

A tear rolled down her scaly cheek.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four**

All the deities were looking at her as she struggled to keep her tears from rolling down her scaly cheeks, her heart breaking in two as the memories continued to come back and haunt her. Xibalba was also attempting to look as calm as possible, but as he stared at her face, he could not contain the urge to cry either, his eyes moistening with tears.

Seeing that all the gods were looking at her, Xibalba's hurt expression, and the kings exchanging questioning glances, Regina turned around and ran to the door to leave the room, without saying a word or even bothering to give the respective bow to the Gods, trying to hide her tears from view.

"Regina!" Xibalba quickly stood up from the table and went after her. La Muerte was also taken aback by his reaction, but she didn't try to stop him; she had the feeling this was between them, and she didn't have to interfere.

Suddenly, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcóatl sensed danger in the air, with the speed of lighting they teleported away from the table, just in time to avoid being crushed by the chandelier. Unfortunately, some of the other gods didn't have time to avoid the impact, and were slightly injured by the sharp crystals. Luckily, it was nothing serious, just a few scratches, but to Xibalba's horror, one of the injured people was La Muerte.

"LA MUERTE!" Xibalba saw what had happened seconds before he left the room, and almost immediately turned around and rushed towards La Muerte to make sure she was okay." _Mi amor_ , are you hurt?" Xibalba started checking on her for any sort of injuries, gasping in horror when he saw a mildly bleeding cut on her cheek.

"I am fine, it's just a scratch." La Muerte took a napkin and wiped the blood from her cheek, and pressed it gently on the cut to stop the bleeding.

Xibalba turned to look at the fallen chandelier. "What happened?".

"We don't know! It just fell off." One of the other gods answered.

When they heard a very loud crash coming from inside the ballroom, the lizards, including Regina, hurried inside to see what had happened. It was a complete disaster- no, a nightmare! All their work and effort, ruined in a matter of seconds. The table was broken, as well as the glasses and plates, the chandelier had fallen and broken, but the worst part was that some of the gods had gotten hurt.

Roberto was the first to realize what had just happened, and rushed towards the gods with an horrified expression. "My Lords and Ladies..."

"What happened, Roberto?!" La Muerte asked with a yell, she hadn't meant to do so, but she was so frightened by what just happened that she wasn't minding the volume of her voice.

"Indeed, Roberto?!" asked Tezcatlipoca with a frown. "What explanation do you have for this? Someone might have gotten badly injured!"

Juarez spoke next, trembling. "We're s-sorry, My Lords, b-but the chandelier was in p-perfect condition when we c-checked!"

Meanwhile, Emilio sensed a familiar presence in the room. Oh no… This could not be happening to them! Emilio looked up at the chain that had held the chandelier, and noticed there was something off… he started to doubt this was a causal accident, it couldn't have broken just like that, he had made sure that the chain was in perfect condition.

Unless…

Before the argue between the gods and the lizards grew to a larger scale, Emilio caught a glimpse of some movements behind him: the curtains near the door had swayed slightly. Silently, Emilio approached to the curtains carefully. Xibalba spotted him, but Emilio took a finger to his lips and signaled him not to rat him out.

As soon as he pulled the curtains out of the way, the person hiding behind it tried to escape, but Emilio caught him before he could even take a few steps.

"Get your scaly hands away from me!"

"Santiago?! Though I'm not really surprised!"

At the sound of the scuffle taking place, the gods and the rest of the lizards turned their attention towards them.

Santiago struggled to get free from Emilio's hold, but as soon as he managed to do so and made a run for the door, his vision went black from a punch received from Lorenzo.

"Thank you, Lorenzo." Emilio sighed, panting. "Though the next time try to leave some for us too!"

Lorenzo wiped his hands like he had touched something dirty. "Eyup!"

"Santiago! What have you just done?! Why did you knock him out like that?!" La Muerte snapped at the lizard, rushing to defend her unconscious servant.

It was Xibalba's turn to grow angry, however. "What is he doing here, anyway?! They had their turn!"

"That's what we are wondering, My Lord." Emilio retorted through grit teeth.

Soon, Santiago stirred awake only to find he was being held by Lorenzo and Juarez, preventing him from running away. "What..." Santiago shook his head, still sore from the pain from the hit, but then he saw the angry glares on both Emilio and Xibalba's faces.

"What are you doing here, Santiago?" La Muerte asked him.

"I… I was..."

"Going to sabotage us, which you nearly succeeded at." Emilio growled.

"What? Please! Sabotage _YOU_? Why would we need to sabotage _you_?"

"I'm wondering that as well." Quetzalcóatl approached with crossed arms and a stern look.

"My Lords... I... Could you tell them to release me?"

"What for? You have broken a rule. You knew that nobody is allowed to come in here without permission, and yet here you are!" Tezcatlipoca snapped with a deep frown. "Why are you here!?"

Suddenly, Tlaloc started to feel weak, and his stomach was churning. He was about to fall over when he was caught by the other gods. He recalled that he just ate, but the worst part was that he didn't know if the food was behind it, though everything pointed to it. "Damn it Xibalba! Your maid poisoned me!"

Xibalba was the first to reac, knowing Regina was in a very emotionally delicate state right now. "What?! Are you insane, Tlaloc? Regina would have never done such a thing, not even to you! Besides, we all ate of her food and we are all feeling well!"

"I am in all my senses, Xibalba! There was something in my food or drink!" he had to be supported by three other gods.

Xibalba went to the remnants of Tlaloc's place, picked up his glass of wine and took a sniff. It had a strange smell, indeed. "It's poison…"

All the other gods gasped in fear, and looked at the lizards accusingly. Emilio walked over to the table and took a sniff at Tlaloc's glass, as well as the few glasses that weren't broken by the fallen chandelier. "It's only Lord's Tlaloc glass that was poisoned." He immediately turned to look at Santiago, and noticed the frightened look on his face. "I knew you were capable of many things, but this is the lowest you could get! The chandelier was one thing, but this?!" Emilio yelled, throwing the glass unto the floor, shattering it.

La Muerte couldn't believe it. She refused to believe it. "How can you say that, Emilio?! That Santiago poisoned Tlaloc?"

"...I ..I do, My Lady. Santiago and Ronela are not who they seem."

"How dare you, Emilio?!"

As he watched the scene, Santiago felt a pair of eyes looking into his brain for information. He did not dare to lift his head and look at Lord Xibalba's eyes directly. As soon as he got what he wanted, Xibalba telepathically pulled all the curtains aside, revealing another, more feminine skeletal figure.

"Well, well and the team is complete. Santiago and Ronela." Roberto growled as he grabbed her arm and pulled her out of her hiding place. He searched in one of her pockets, only to find a small empty vial. "And what do we have here? Looks like you like to play with poison, or should I say, pour it into Lord Tlaloc's drink?!"

The gods were speechless. They all looked at La Muerte, who looked as shocked as they were. The kings exchanged glares and shook their heads.

La Muerte approached her servants, trembling. It couldn't be… They wouldn't… would they? "W-what happened?! Why are you here, and why is there an empty vial in your, Ronela?"

"To sabotage us! Why else?!" Juarez lashed out, still grabbing Santiago.

"Yes! It's obvious that they didn't want to wish us good luck!" said Roberto

"Eyuup!" Lorenzo snapped, crossing his arms.

"It can't be... They would never do such thing… Never!" La Muerte continued to defend her servants.

" _Mi amor_..." Xibalba didn't know how to say it. "They did it. I saw it. And the Kings are right, what other reasons would they have to hide in here?"

"No! I know them and they would never..." She stopped when her gaze rested on them, La Muerte saw a guilty expressions on Ronela's face. "Tell me you did not do this...You are innocent, right?" She hoped they would say they didn't do it, that this was just a misunderstanding, she trusted them that much…

But at the question, Ronela felt cornered, and concluded that it would be better if she said the truth. "I am sorry, My Lady." She instantly pinned the blame on her partner-in-crime." He made me do it! I didn't want it to get this far!" Ronela cried in despair and with a pleading look.

At these words, La Muerte gasped in shock and horror. Could they have… They couldn't have!

"In this case..." Tezcatlipoca started

"You must be punished for your betrayal and actions." Quetzalcóatl continued.

"We could help you with that…" Roberto grinned, knocking up his fists.

"Roberto!" Xibalba scolded him, giving him a warning look.

The lizards were not surprised, though. They knew that Santiago and Ronela were trouble, and now they had been exposed. They didn't know what the kings were planning, but it was not a picnic.

"Santiago and Ronela, for your actions and betrayal, the sentence is banishment." Tezcatlipoca said, giving them a stern look.

At the word banishment, the lizards were even more taken aback than Santiago and Ronela. There was only one realm they could be banished to.

Despite what just happened, Regina seemed to be the only one to keep her calm and cool. Normally, she would have spoken her mind already, but right now all she had in mind was to keep herself up and not letting the others notice the state she was in. Ever since she found out about this stupid contest, Regina had cried almost daily, the nights became torturing hours for her, as well as the effort she had made in the past week had weakened her. All the emotions, worries and internal conflicts had a negative effect on her. As they were waiting for the final word, Regina had to lean on Roberto for support, before she fainted directly in his arms.

"Regina!" Emilio rushed to her side as soon as Roberto caught her .

Everyone's attention turned to Regina just as Emilio started to shake her shoulder, trying to wake her up. Even Santiago was worried about her wellbeing, but he was still being held tightly by Lorenzo. Xibalba went to help the others wake her up.

* * *

A few minutes later, Regina was regaining consciousness just as the others lizards helped her get back on her feet again.

"Regina, are you alright?!"Xibalba asked her in alarm.

"Yes, I am okay…" she glanced at the Kings with a pleading look. "My Lords.."

Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcóatl looked down at the small lizard in a questioning way. "What is it?" the former said.

"No one knows better than us what it means to be forgotten, My Lord. Not even Lord Xibalba." Her voice was trembling. "It is a dreadful feeling, knowing that nobody actually cares for you and… at the same time, not knowing who you were and where you came from. What the gods are trying to do is to make as many souls to be remembered as possible. Please, for everyone's sake, My Lords, Don't ...Don't be so hard on them. Please."

The kings exchanged glances, but nonetheless nodded. "But they must be punished in a way"

"Don't worry, My Lords, they will be." Much to everyone's surprise, La Muerte spoke, her voice unusually cold, but very angry, and she was giving her servants a disappointed glare. "But for now, I think we should let Regina and the others have their moment of glory without these two destroying it!" Before they could say something, La Muerte had sent Santiago and Ronela back to the Land of the Remembered.

Regina looked up at the kings again, and then at the other gods as well "We are very sorry, My Lords and Ladies, for the ball having to end in this way. If we had been more careful and vigilant..." all the other lizards nodded as well.

After everything that had just happened, they were still taking the responsibility for the incident? All the gods exchanged glances among each other is amazement and compassion for the lizards. Indeed, of all the 13 teams they had seen, these were the only ones to be tested in such conditions. The ball was indeed a complete failure, but that was not exactly what The Kings were looking after. They were looking for responsible servants who would know how to serve in harmony with the master. From what the kings observed, had a strong bond with the lizards, and this was also a good sign. Without giving it a second thought, the kings made their decision.

"No."

Everyone looked at the brothers in surprise.

Tezcatlipoca was the first to speak. "You have nothing to apologize for. I can assure you one thing, you have shown more greatness and kindness that very few people would show. Especially you, Regina." he looked down at her sympathetically.

"Lord Xibalba was very lucky to have servants like you." said Quetzalcóatl.

At those words, Xibalba tried his best not to collapse. What did they mean with _'was_ very lucky'? He started to tremble slightly, his feathers bristling as shivers went down his spine.

A glimpse of hope was seen on Roberto, Lorenzo and Juarez's faces, but Emilio and Regina were frozen in fear at those words. Did this mean that they...?

"You have won your right to become servants here, in Aztlan."

Time itself seemed to stop for Xibalba when heard that sentence. He couldn't bear to look at his servants, his foster family, anymore, and turned his back on them, wrapping his wings around himself as if attempting to protect himself from the emotional blow. He had no idea of why, but he could shed no tears, he could only breath heavily as he processed what had just happened. La Muerte noticed and took his hand.

For the lizards, on the other hand, every single breath was a living hell. Each had different reactions to the news. Juarez and Roberto were literally jumping of joy while Lorenzo just lifted them into an embrace. As for Emilio and Regina, their vision started to fade, and every inch of them started to tremble. Regina's eyes could not shed any more tears could not bring herself to shed more tears, for they had all dried up at the announcement. She was in such a state of shock that her pupils shrunk almost to the point of being unseen, and her once warm pinkish colors started to fade into a cold, dark purple. Time had stopped. Her hands were cold, her feet were struggled to keep her up.

Emilio's eyes did not leave Regina, all the tears he had been trying to contain were now rolling down his cheeks. Seeing her in this state made him cry from the bottom of his heart. Neither he or Regina had the heart to look at Xibalba, none of them could see his hurt and betrayed expression, his gaze turned away from them and his wings hugging him as if he were trying to protect himself in a cocoon.

At the scene, the kings looked rather impressed than surprised, and part of them felt terrible for making Xibalba go through this, but nonetheless they formed five balls of energy that would transform the lizards back into humans and restore their memories.

The moment that they had been waiting for had finally arrived. The moment they would become humans again, the moment when they would finally discover who they were. This would also be the moment they would leave Xibalba forever, though apparently three of them didn't mind at the moment. As the kings held the balls closer to their heads, the lizards grabbed each other's hands, all shivering for different reasons, holding their hands tightly while Xibalba continued to keep his gaze away, not having the heart to watch.

Time didn't to work the same anymore, seconds turned into centuries and miliseconds into decades. That was all Regina needed to see her master's, her _real_ master's, life right before her eyes, all the memories playing in her head like an endless movie.

She could not go ahead with this.

"NO!"

Suddenly, Regina released her hands from Roberto and Emilio's, taking a few steps back from the energy ball meant for her.

At her loud voice, Xibalba could not resist anymore and he turned to see if the lizards had changed back into humans, only to find them in their usual lizard form. In utter shock, The Kings made the energy balls disappear, staring at Regina like she had lost her mind. She was breathing heavily, her eyes a burning bonfire intertwined with a rain of hot tears as she glared at the others in disbelief and betrayal.

"Regina, what are you doing?!" Roberto asked her in disbelief.

"No…" Regina shook her head, stepping further away from them.

"No what, Regina?" Juarez tried to get closer to her, but she stepped away from him, her glare turning to him.

Regina looked at Emilio, who was allowing even more tears to roll down his cheeks. "I… _We_ cannot do this, boys. We can't…" Regina retorted between growls and sobs.

"What?!" Even Lorenzo said something, shocked at her reaction.

"If you want to abandon him after all the kindness that he has shown to us, then do it, but..."Regina looked back at Xibalba's eyes, more determined than ever. "I am _not_ leaving Lord Xibalba." Then she glanced up at the Kings apologetically. "Have me sent to the Land of the Cursed if you want, My Lords, but I am not leaving him willingly. None of us should!" She looked at the rest of the lizards, and took Emilio's hand. "I also know that you don't want to leave him. You were the only one who never made such horrible a decision."

Emilio took Regina's hand and looked at Xibalba's eyes as well, memories of his life, their life together, their good times, everything, coming into his mind as well. She was right, he had never wanted to take part in this in the first place; he just played along because of the others.

Regina continued. "Emilio, if you left Xibalba, who would keep his castle stainless and impeccable, like it has always been?" At those words, Emilio laughed sadly and looked down, a bit calmer.

Regina turned to the other lizards as well, starting with Juarez. "Juarez...No one could take care of Medianoche like you do. You know that horse like the back of your hand, and that horse would die of grief if you left. You know that Xibalba has _never_ trusted _anyone_ but _you_ to take care of Medianoche, has he?"

Juarez was speechless, tears of guilt were also gathering in his eyes as he looked down, ashamed of himself.

Lorenzo was next. "And you, Lorenzo! Who would pick out the best wine with a single sniff, and give the best and simplest answers in that castle?! Who would help me open the jars or carry heavy things?! Regina whispered, a little calmly this time.

Lorenzo couldn't look at her as he replied with a single word, as usual. "…Nope…"

Now it was Roberto's turn, but Regina didn't say anything. He was looking at her with a frown. Only after a few moments did Regina speak. "Didn't you know that too much frowning makes wrinkles?" she shook her head in disappointment. "I don't recognize you anymore. Who are you, Roberto?"

He retorted through grit teeth. "That was what I was trying to find… before you..."

"Ruined everything. I know, 'what a party-pooper I am. But despite my protests and everything, you always made us laugh even in the darkest of moments. Who is going to make us laugh like you do? Who is going to disappear all of the sudden just to go and take a nap? Who is going to smoke in the kitchen even after being told hundreds of times not to do it?"

Roberto took a severe blow at those words. He was speechless. She was right in certain topics. But now… he had tried to avoid this as much as he could, but he realized it was impossible; he would have to choose. What was most important for most for him? His own identity which he hadn't really cared about all these years until he heard about this stupid competition, or his friendship with the rest of the lizards who... and Lord Xibalba? He glanced at Xibalba, and saw his hurt expression, an expression that he had seen frequently in his youth.

…

He made his choice… and turned his back to them, feeling their incredulous, shocked glances on top of him like a giant rock.

He slowly stepped forward, closer to the kings, who had watched the scene silently, impressed by Regina's loyalty to her master, forsaking such an opportunity just to stay with him.

He turned his back on them.

He was abandoning them...

or so they thought.

"Only if you let me to smoke in the kitchen while we enjoy the morning coffee." Roberto said, his back still turned on them. At those words, Regina's face lit up and a smile spread across her face.

"Fine."

Roberto finally turned around, his glossy eyes meeting the four pairs of eyes that he had gotten used to so well. They could not contain it anymore, and all 5 of them hugged each other, wailing at full volume with a love and affection never seen before.

"And I guess that Xibalba would starve without you." Emilio said, glancing at Regina.

"Yeah..."Regina said as they continued to hug, not really minding the red skull-shaped eyes that were looking straight at them…

Or rather, through them.


	5. Chapter 5

**_The Best Servants_**

 **Chapter 5.**

* * *

Xibalba could not believe it.

His servants… no, his _family_ … had refused to leave him, rejecting the chance to become humans once again, to regain the memories of their lives, to remember who they were like they had wished to for so long. He just stood there, watching his servants hug and cry into each other's arm. He could feel his own eyes moistening and the tears making their way down his cheeks. Only now did he realize how much these 5 meant to him, and that he would do anything in his power to keep, even if he had to face the Kings for that. Speaking of which, Xibalba grew worried when he saw Tezcatlipoca's expression, he could sense anger and confusion in him, while Lord Quetzalcóatl seemed more impressed than angry or shocked.

"Sorry to interrupt you, but I believe that we have chosen _you_ to become my new servants. It is not a request, it's an _order_." Tezcatlipoca said in cold anger as he stared at the lizards with narrowed eyes and a severe expression.

Roberto gathered the courage to speak, but he trembled under the god's glare. "We don't mean to offend you, but… under no circumstances we won't will we ever leave lord Xibalba. You can punish us in any way you wish, burn us into a pile of ashes, banish us to the Land of the Cursed, turn us into worms or anything you like... That will be only way you will take us away from Lord Xibalba."

The rest of the lizards nodded in agreement. Surprisingly, much to their shock and disbelief, Quetzalcóatl smiled at them, showing nothing but admiration, opposed to his brother's angry expression.

"Indeed, if we wished to, we could do all those things to you and more as punishment, but my question is…" Quetzalcóatl glanced at the window. "...Punishment for what?"

"W-Well, for d-disobeying rules… and orders..."Juarez stuttered, gulping.

"That is precisely my point, my friends. You have broken no rule at all." Quetzalcóatl glanced at his brother and saw the shocked expression on his face. "In fact, no one from the other realms followed rules and orders as you did." He glanced back at the lizards with a smile. "A rule that dictates all servants must be loyal to their Masters, and the god has all the authority over his servitude .You don't want to leave Xibalba, though I can tell there is one among you who never wanted to take part in this from the beginning.." Quetzalcóatl glanced at Emilio. "And yet, you participated at this contest. You could have refused to... but you still did."

Emilio didn't know what to say. "My Lord, I don't mean to disrespect you, but you _ordered_ all servants from all realms to participate…"

"Orders can be broken every now and then as well." Quetzalcóatl chuckled "... Of course, with a certain punishment, but I doubt that fear didn't root completely from the idea of abandoning your master alone. What was it?"

All the lizards exchanged glances, uncertain if they should reveal the reason they had entered this contest in the first place. Nonetheless, Regina was the next to speak, clearing her throat.

"My lords, our... our only wish was to..." she sighed. "We only want to regain our memories and become humans again." She looked down, ashamed for having been so selfish.

"It's horrible not to know where we came from, or who we were and... the fact that we are just whoever someone tells us we are. We can't be ourselves when we don't know what 'us' really means." Emilio sighed sadly.

The Kings exchanged glances, and Quetzalcóatl smiled at his brother. "Well, _hermano_ , what do you think? Are their hearts pure enough to grant them their wish?"

There was a glimpse of hope in the lizards' expressions as they saw the Kings discussing, Emilio and Roberto were fidgeting with their tails nervously.

Tezcatlipoca glanced at them with narrowed eyes, inspecting them from head to toe, and then shifted his glance to Xibalba. He seemed to be very attached to his servants, he could tell he didn't see them as mere servitude at all, but as friends, and he could see the determination on his face. It was clear that he was not willing to let his servants be taken. Quetzalcóatl was right, these ones had pure intentions, and not only that, they had won the contest. They _had_ to be rewarded in a way.

Finally, Tezcatlipoca sighed in defeat.

"Very well, then. Regina, Roberto, Emilio, Juarez and Lorenzo, you have, indeed, good intentions, but your loyalty, devotion and love to your master is way stronger than your hearts' desires." He sighed again. "Unfortunately, your wish to become humans can't be granted, but you may regain your lost memories."

Silence.

The lizards were in such state of shock that their jaws dropped (literally in Juarez's case) and their eyes widened. Did this mean... Were they going to… It was real! They would finally see who they were and where they came from!

"Lorenzo, step forward." Quetzalcóatl whispered.

Lorenzo, surprised and taken aback for being the first, nonetheless stepped forward."E-Eyup?" He stuttered, gulping.

The brothers smiled at him, and Quetzalcóatl waved his hand, producing a misty projection in the air, just a few steps in front of the lizard. "I believe that Lorenzo is wrong. I should be calling you Ricardo Carlos Montenegro, shouldn't I?"

"What?" Lorenzo whispered, frozen in shock. The Kings motioned him to look at the projection. Suddenly, the mist started to move and cleared until an image appeared, showing a tall, bulky man with dark complexion, black hair and mustache with green eyes wearing a typical _bandido_ clothing, a handkerchief around his neck, a long trench coat was flowing from behind him, as well as two pistols attached to the leather belt around his hips.

Lorenzo gasped in shock when he saw the man... at himself. He had been a renown bandit in Mexico... All of sudden, the scenery changes and showed him being tortured by another band of bandits, Xibalba recognized them from Chakal's band. Lorenzo trembled in horror and fear when he saw his own death in the hands of those evil people, between tortures and loneliness. If reptiles could sweat, Lorenzo would be sweating like a pig that very moment. The other lizards were watching in shock as the images dissipated, and Lorenzo walked back to his place, shaken by what he had just seen.

"Juarez." Tezcatlipoca said calmly, motioning toe corresponding lizard to approach to the projecting mist. Gulping, Juarez stepped forward, his jaws trembling in fear and anxiety of the possible things he could see.

Tezcatlipoca reassured him. "Fear not, Alonzo Rodriguez."

"Was that my name?"

"Yes." said Quetzalcóatl, turning his head towards the screen. A tall man with sandy hair and hazel eyes wearing a green shirt and brown pants with matching brown boots. He recognized the image of some fancy-looking stables, and manages to deduce it was Spain. He saw himself playing the flute for the thoroughbred horses, and how he took care of them with the uttermost care, knowing each individual steed like the palm of his hand.

Then came the vision of his death. The stables were on fire, and the horses let out neighs and shrieks as they tried in vain to open the doors of their stalls to escape, he saw his living persona going into the stables and sliding each of the stall doors open, allowing the horses to gallop out, but as the last horse left the burning structure the entryway was blocked by falling, burning debris, and he eventually collapsed from the heat and smoke.

He had died saving the horses from the burning stables.

"You sacrificed yourself to save those animals. They were not yours, but you were willing to die for them as if they were. You are indeed gifted, and you put passion in what you do. I believe this proves that Xibalba's horse is in the best of hands." Tezcatlipoca said, smiling sympathetically at him.

"Thank you, My Lords." Juarez turned around and walked back to the others, receiving a smile from Regina and a pat on the back from Lorenzo.

"Roberto." Quetzalcóatl called out.

Roberto glanced at the screen. He saw a tall, black-haired man with a black matching mustache appeared on the projection. Judging by his attire, the man was visibly an aristocrat, an elegant dark suit with intricate patterns. Blue eyes seemed to glow in contrast with his dark colors, giving him attractive looks.

"Your name was Alain du Chambord, Roberto."

"Alain du Chambord? But that's French."

"Yes, you were a French aristocrat, as you can see." Quetzalcóatl sighed. "But you had your flaws."

"What do you mean?"

Quetzalcóatl motioned him to look at the projection. He saw himself kissing a beautiful lady, the both of them laying down on a bed in an elegant room as he searched for the zipper of her dress. All the sudden, another man, the woman's future husband, entered the room and found the two lovers. Before Roberto could even think of running away, he had already been shot in the head with a pistol. Then everything went black.

Roberto could not believe it. He was in such a state of shock that his jaw dropped, and his eyes swelled up with tears, his whole body started to tremble. He was speechless. This was _not_ what he had expected to see, not even close. Had he been such a reckless jerk? How ironic, he had been the one who wanted to discover the most who he was, so much that he didn't take into consideration that he might have not been a good person. Quietly, he joined the rest of the lizards, doing his best to contain sobs, closing his eyes in shame and not looking at his friend. He didn't have the courage right now.

Quetzalcóatl couldn't help but feel sorry for him, but they had to continue. He glanced to the head of staff. "Emilio, step forward."

By the time his name had been called, Emilio finally lost it. He stepped forward, shaking violently and trembling, afraid of what he might see. If Roberto and Lorenzo had such lives, what kind of things would he see of his own life?

"People would have liked you more if you weren't this grumpy, Duncan Charles Ansman. I admit, British are often cold and grumpy. I guess that your very life dictated that you were to be a butler even after death."

"W-What?"

On the projection, a medium sized man with dark brown hair and large dark brown mustache that hid his mouth from view appeared. In contrast with his pale complexion, he wore the usual butler suit, the same suit he was wearing at that very moment, but it had seen better days. The man always showed nothing but a serious face, frowning often and rarely smiling, proving that he had been very grumpy indeed.

Despite his emotional state, Roberto couldn't contain a comment. "That explains quite a lot of things."

Regina hissed at him. "Roberto!"

Then, they saw a young, lovely lady, probably the daughter of the patriarch, started to give Emilio signs of having a crush on him, but being the loyal and ethic servant he was, he politely refused all her offers, and tried to avoid her altogether. Incensed at being rejected for the first time by a man, the brat went to her father and accused the butler of trying to rape her; knowing it was his word against hers, and that he was at threat of death, Emilio had no other choice but to run away from the mansion and into the woods. Eventually, he could run no more from the hunger, and perished from starvation.

In shock, Emilio literally fell on his knees as the tears ran down his scaly cheek. Regina approached him and placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. Emilio's trembling hand touched hers, and he closed his eyes shut, sobbing.

Tezcatlipoca stared at the two forlornly. "If only you had been like this with her in life..."

"Excuse me?" Regina asked him in surprise.

"Well, Arabella Anwen..." the god motioned to the mist. Regina gasped as she saw a pale woman with messy-looking curly short red hair and beautiful blue eyes. She looked very thin, her expression was always gloomy and depressed, her clothing was very skimpy and revealing, giving her a slightly idea about her profession.

The images changed once again, showing her begging for some leftovers at the doors of a large mansion, but every time she was rejected by...

...by

Emilio couldn't believe what he was seeing. He wanted to deny it, he wanted to think it was a mistake on the King's part, but he knew they never lied.

She was sent away cruelly...by no other but the butler, whose name was casually Duncan...

Emilio.

At the sight, Regina gasped in utter shock, and Emilio closed his fits denial and disbelief, his eyes widening in horror. It couldn't-! A whirlwind of emotions overcame him as he glanced at Regina in guilt and regret. How could he call himself her friend after seeing the way he had treated her in life?

But they didn't know that something worse was coming.

Suddenly, the images changed again, and it showed one of Regina's 'clients' going too far, and her attempting to defend herself. Through her muffled screams, she contained a breathless gasp as the man, annoyed by her stubbornness and refusal to cooperate, stabbed her in her abdomen in a fit of blind ire, leaving her to bleed to death upon realizing what he had done.

Regina couldn't contain it. Her face turned pale and the tears started to roll down her cheeks, watching herself bleed to death in the street, being looked upon like she were scum just because she had to sell herself in order to put the bread in the table. Instinctively, she placed her hands on her abdomen, as if she were attempting to protect something, but she didn't know why.

Quetzalcóatl noticed, and gave her a sorrowful look. "Unfortunately, Regina... When you died…" he closed his eyes. "Another life was lost at the same time."

"...W-what?" Did it mean…? Could it…?

"You didn't know this, Regina, but… you were with a child when you died."

Silence.

Nothing could be heard in that room, not even her breathing could be heard anymore.

That was the last straw.

Regina's legs were shaking as she fell to the ground, Emilio managed to catch her in time, but she didn't mind his presence. Regina wailed loudly, crying and sobbing uncontrollably, wrapping her arms around her waist like she were trying to protect her lost child. Emilio couldn't contain it, and wrapped his arms around her reassuringly, he cried with her.

Emilio was struggling to even breathe, but he managed to say two simple words."...l ...l'm sorry."

"I know..."Regina simply said as she hugged him even harder.

At the scene, Xibalba didn't say anything, he was frozen in shock, watching the lives his servants had during their time on the Land of the Living, and none of those lives were colored pink. Unconsciously, he had grabbed La Muerte's hand tightly, weeping in compassion for his servants, but his heart ached for Regina the most; he never imagined she had gone through that.

Roberto, Lorenzo and Juarez were also taken aback by what they had just seen. Of all of them, Regina was the one to suffer the most; she had not only lost her life, but her child as well.

Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcóatl glanced at each other. Indeed, their lives were very hard. They couldn't help but feel sorry for them.

"Was this what you wanted?" asked Tezcatlipoca, giving them sad looks.

Emilio and Regina lifted their gaze, their eyes glossy and reddish from all the tears. They wanted to talk, but their throats were dry. Realizing they would not be able to speak due to the emotional state they were in, Roberto decided to answer the question for them.

"Yes..."

The kings were surprised at the answer, but their gazes were fixed on Roberto as he approached Regina and Emilio, placing his hands on their shoulders.

"We wanted to see it… we _needed_ this…" Roberto managed to say calmly. "Even if it was not what we expected to see, and no matter how much the truth hurts..."

Xibalba at his servants with glossy eyes, and then glanced at the Kings. He wished he could do something for them, but what…? Then it came to him. Without the lizards' knowledge, he communicated something to the kings telepathically. The gods glanced at him amusingly, and then at each other, before smiling and nodding.

"No, Roberto, we didn't show you this to... punish you." Quetzalcóatl said. "This, like you said, is what defines you as a person. Nobody should be ashamed of their lives. That is part of you, what made you what you are now. You always knew who you were… you just didn't see it."

"What do you mean?" Juarez asked.

"Are you any different from how you used to be before you saw these things? We only showed you these images so that you would understand that knowing who you are doesn't change who you really are."

At those words, the lizards calmed down and realized that they were... right. Nothing had actually changed inside them, they were still the same as before. Knowing what lives they had didn't changed who they were.

Regina managed to cease crying, and got back on her feet, still holding Emilio's hand. She didn't blame him for anything that had happened. He hadn't known anything about who she was.

On the other hand, however, Emilio felt horribly guilty for Regina and her baby's demise, even if he hadn't directly done anything to harm them, if only he had helped her, she wouldn't have had to... do all those things to survive. Regina sensed his tension and tightened her grip on his hand, smiling at him. "It's alright Emilio."

Not wanting to worry her any more, Emilio managed to give her a small smile, though the guilt continued to eat him.

"The 5 of you are very special, indeed. Not just that, you didn't just earn our admiration, but you also earned our respect and trust." Tezcatlipoca smiled. "And for that…" The kings exchanged glances and gave them a small bow. The other gods knew what that meant.

The lizards were also taken aback by this, but nonetheless they returned the reverence.

"You are by far...The best servants." said Tezcatlipoca.

Quetzalcóatl smiled. "And I believe that such title deserves some consideration as well." He glanced at Xibalba. "Xibalba's idea."

The lizards glanced at Xibalba, who smiled at them.

"Lorenzo...what was that word that you are always saying? Hmm?" Tezcatlipoca asked

Lorenzo shrugged. "I believe that it was..."

"EEEYYYUUUPPP!" suddenly all the gods blurted out the words, most of them against their will, though the Kings, Xibalba and La Muerte said it on their own accord. Lorenzo was startled at first, but nonetheless he replied with a grin."Eyup!"

Tezcatlipoca glanced at Juarez next. "Juarez, I believe that Medianoche should listen to those beautiful songs used to play at your flute, don't you think?"

"But I don't have a flute..."

"You do now." said Quetzalcóatl, waving his hand as he summoned a beautiful silver flute with golden swirls and handed it over to him.

"Thank you, My Lords." He accepted the flute and played a few notes that had been preserved in his subconscious for a long time.

The feathered serpent turned to Roberto. "And since apparently you will be allowed to smoke in the kitchen from now on... I think you will need this." Chuckling, he materialized a beautiful silver pipe adorned with black, making Roberto squeal in delight.

"A worth gift for an aristocrat?"

Roberto blushed at the comment, but nonetheless gave the gods a thankful nod, accepting the pipe.

"Emilio? For how long have you been wearing this suit?" Tezcatlipoca inquired.

Emilio looked down at his worn-down, slightly ragged tuxedo. "Ever since I can remember... And now that I just found out that I wore it when I was alive… I guess a few thousand years ,My Lords"

Quetzalcóatl snapped his fingers once again, and Emilio's suit started to glow as the old and ragged clothing turned into a brand, silk-made and velvety new suit.

"Wow, Emilio. You look good!" said Roberto commented, inspecting Emilio from head to toe in amusement.

"Indeed you do, Emilio. I might even say handsome." Regina added with a small giggle.

Emilio blushed at the comments, particularly Regina's, but didn't forget to thank the Kings with a respectful bow.

The kings then turned at Regina, and remained silent for a few moments. The lizards noticed that she was the only who had not yet received a gift, and the Kings hadn't said anything just yet.

"My Lords, you surely have something for Regina as well, don't you? It's Regina!" Roberto nearly yelled, but managed to contain himself in the last moment.

Tezcatlipoca nodded sadly. "Yes, Roberto, we are very well aware of that. And that is exactly why she deserves a special gift..."

"What kind of gift?" Juarez asked.

The jaguar god glanced at the female Lizard with a solemn expression. "Regina, we know what your heart desires the most, but unfortunately, we cannot grant you _that_... not in the way you would expect."

"We know what you wish for. Your child..." Quetzalcóatl knelt down in front of Regina's much smaller figure, and took her tiny skeletal hands in his. "But it's impossible, even for us and any god of death to retrieve and show him to you. Since he couldn't be born, he doesn't have a soul to retrieve from anywhere, not even the Chichihualcuauhco tree could receive him." He noticed her eyes were swelling up with tears once again. "But there _is_ one way for you to always keep him close to your pure heart, Regina"

Regina had started to weep once again, a bit more calmly than a while ago, but it was a sad sight nonetheless. The hope to see her lost child had nearly extinguished, but a small flicker remained when she heard there was a way for her to keep a memento of him… or her.

"You earned our trust. But do you trust us?" Quetzalcóatl asked as he started to emanate energy from his hand.

Regina simply nodded as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Then, Tezcatlipoca walked closer and grabbed Regina's hand, along with his brother, concealing all the energy they could in her tiny hands. Judging by the way they were concentrating, Regina could tell that this was a very difficult spell, even for them, and _that_ was something. After a few seconds, the brothers retreated their hand, leaving something in her palms.

As she opened her hands, Regina gasped in surprise, covering her mouth with her free hand. Yet another river of tears started rolling down her cheeks, and sobs escaped from her lips as she stared at the object in her hand forlornly.

A diamond pendant. It was known that all the children that didn't have the chance to take their first breath were turned into the most precious and valuable jewels ever seen. After death, these diamonds would be given back to their parents, but only in the Land of the Remembered. This could only mean one thing...that this...small, shiny, and simply beautiful jewel was her little one, her child. As she held the diamond close to her chest, she swore she could still feel the life that was emanating from it, and a tiny heartbeat from within. She glanced up at the kings with glossy eyes, unable to thank them properly with words, she only looked at their eyes with all the gratefulness she could ever muster.

"Your welcome, dear Regina." Tezcatlipoca smiled at her.

"This is where your child is supposed to be...close to your heart." Quetzalcóatl added.

Without saying a single word, Regina joined the other lizards as they stared compassionately at her, smiling warmly and sympathetically.

The whole time, Xibalba had been smiling proudly at his...family. He made a promise to himself at that moment. From now on, there a single day wouldn't pass without telling his servants how grateful he was to have them under his wing... And promises made by the Ancient Rules were unbreakable. He had known them ever since he first came into the world. They were far older than him. They had known Akrinok's cruelty, sometimes even his (though his was much minor and it only consisted of yelling when he was in a terrible mood). Now he regretted all the times he ever neglected or doubted them for any reason. Most of all, these lizards hadn't had any free days ever since he met them, they didn't have any free days at all, now that he thought of it... which gave him an idea.

Xibalba coughed to get their attention, and the lizards immediately turned in reaction to his gesture, they knew it very well. A serious expression could be seen on their MASTER'S face, and yet, they didn't feel any kind of fear, rather there was a sensation of safety surrounding them.

"Hmmmm..." Xibalba stroked his beard, pretending to think. "As far as I remember, I once told you that there are other ways to receive attention." His expression was serious, but deep down he was just toying a bit with them. Certainly, after having known him for so long, the lizards decided to play along.

"Yes, My Lord, but you also said 'Why get only half of the attention when you could get all of it?'" Roberto retorted with a sly smile on his face.

"Using my own words against me..." Xibalba chuckled. "I am so proud of you all. And because of that, _and_ because I appreciate and admire you with all my heart.. I have a gift for you as well."

"What gift, My Lord?" Emilio inquired.

Xibalba smiled at them and snapped his fingers. Instantly, the lizards were taken aback when they felt a huge amount of energy gathering in them. Soon, their green markings started to glow brighter, until their whole bodies were surrounded by light. Once the light disappeared , the lizards... no… the _humans_ gasped in utter amazement and shock when they saw each other in their mortal forms, the same forms they had before their deaths.

"But… But how?!" Roberto yelled in excitement, glancing back at his rear to find his tail gone.

"Wait a minute... you could have changed us back into mortals from the very beginning?" Juarez asked, a little offended.

"No, I'm afraid that the Land of the Forgotten gave you the reptilian forms, and once you return to it you will go back to your lizard forms. However, this spell will last 10 days…"

"Why only ten days?" Regina asked in her now mortal form, but she looked healthier and rosier than before. Xibalba chuckled.

"Well, you have a vacation to attend..."


	6. Chapter 6

**_The best servants_**

 ** _Chapter 6_**

 _Ten_ days without his servants were incredibly painful, and proved to be a real torture for Xibalba to bear. For _ten whole days_ he didn't hear any laughter, jokes or arguments in his castle. He missed them dearly, only hearing their voice would make him feel better; sure, there was Gael, Luis and the other lizards, but he had never been as close to the rest as to the Five. He had spent most of those days in his wife's realm, now he realized how much he actually needed and longed for Regina's food.

The ten days passed slowly, but his servants did not return home, which made him worry. He knew how punctual his servants were... and the spell only lasted ten days. He didn't want to imagine it would cause in the Land of the Living to see five overgrown lizards walking around and acting like humans.

"Xibalba, you worry too much." La Muerte said, fidgeting with his beard. They were both on her throne, and she was sitting on her husband's lap. "You know that they are always very punctual. But ten days were not that much, my love... and by the way, they deserved it."

Xibalba sighed. "Ay, _mi amor_ … indeed they deserved this and much more, but I miss them dearly. I can't spend one more day without Regina's food." He flinched when his wife gave him a puppy look. "Don't take me wrong, you are a wonderful cook, but...Well, Regina is Regina."

La Muerte smiled and she started to play with his mustache. "This means that from now on our dates will take place in your castle, since Regina is the best cook. The kings agreed with that as well, and you know how Lord Tezcatlipoca is so picky about his food."

"Yes, my dear." He recalled he had work to do, and had to stand up, not before helping her to her feet. "It's getting late, and now that I recall I still have some paperwork left to do."

She knew he actually wanted to see if they had returned already. "Why, Xibalba. You could leave it for tomorrow and spend the night here, if you want."

Xibalba leaned for a kiss, and enjoyed his wife's cherry-flavored lips. "I have to go, _mi amor_ , they might arrive and I still have to change them back into lizards when they arrive."

La Muerte smiled at him and stroked his cheek. "I might pay a visit tomorrow. You finish those papers so that you won't have any excuses anymore." She stole a kiss from him once more before he teleported back to the Land of the Forgotten.

Much to his surprise, when he entered his study he found all the pending paperwork done and settled in alphabetical order, by color. He knew only one person who could have done that.

"Emilio?" Xibalba called out for him, but nobody answered. He then walked down the hall and into the dining room to find the dinner already placed on the table, recently prepared. With one single sniff he could tell that the food had been made by Regina. He approached the table, picked up the wine glass and took a sip... Lorenzo's choice.

He teleported to the castle's stables, hoping to maybe find Juarez or any of the lizards there. But the only one he found was Medianoche, who looked happy and excited, like he had seen someone he hadn't seen in a long while. With a sigh, he patted Medianoche's neck gently and teleported back into the castle, right to the spot where Roberto usually took his naps... and once again, didn't find anyone.

He searched in the kitchen, the staff room, anywhere he could think of in his castle, except for the throne room. With the last option, Xibalba headed towards the throne room, gripping his staff in one hand.

As he approached the great doors of his throne room, he swore he could hear laughter and shushing words coming from the inside. Xibalba silently opened the door and entered the room; five humans-now skeletal looking- were chatting, apparently waiting for him. They were so immersed into their conversation that they didn't notice their Lord entering the room.

"Yeah, Juarez, just wait till Lord Xibalba finds out about this!" Roberto snickered in delight. "That guy's face was priceless, I swear."

Regina chuckled. "Yes, Roberto, that was funny indeed, but not as funny as when you spoke French with that lady. _Diablos_ , since when do you speak French?" she said, smiling.

"I guess it was still in there, hidden in my subconscious."

"Man, these days passed so quickly! I already miss sunbathing and swimming in the ocean." Juarez groaned in dismay.

"I will definitely ask Lord Xibalba for a vacation again in about…"Roberto commented and thought as he lit his brand new pipe. "Lets say, a few years."

"I am not sure Lord Xibalba will let us go back to the Land of the Living too soon. In case you forgot, the castle was a complete mess when we arrived." Emilio added

Regina giggled. "And when I think about what Xibalba had to eat in the Land of the Remembered for these 10 days. I wonder if Ronela didn't poison him…" she added quickly.

Emilio chuckled. "Ay Regina, that was..."

"Mean of you"

At these words, the servants turned around startled, only to find their master behind them with an amused expression on his face. The five gave their King the usual bow. Xibalba felt a bit off when his servants showed him this kind of formality after everything that had happened.

"My lord..."Emilio wanted to say something only to be interrupted by Xibalba

"What you did was very mean." Xibalba playfully groaned. "To torture me like that! Do you have any idea how worried I was? You were supposed to come today!"

"Actually, we arrived this morning, My Lord, but you were not here." Emilio said with a smile still in his human form.

"We figured out that you were with La Muerte... and you were worried" Regina's eyes were shining from all the happiness she was feeling at that moment "…does this mean that you missed us?" she inquired.

Xibalba rolled his eyes, though he was smiling. "Haha, very funny… torture me further."

"In other words, that would be a yes. " Roberto added.

Lorenzo nodded. "Eyup!"

Xibalba was, indeed, very happy to see them. Their gazes were gleaming, and he could say that they had a great time. He knew the spell would break during the night, and they would be lizards once more in the morning, but he didn't want to ruin the moment.

That night he slept in his room, his bed freshly warmed and his pillows fluffed, just like he liked it.

The next morning, Xibalba was awaked by a knock on the door. How he had missed it!

"Come in!" he said as he left bed and slipped into his robe.

"Good morning, My Lord. Breakfast is served," Emilio entered the room with a tray, back to his original reptilian form, and went top place the tray with food on the bedside table.

Xibalba smiled. "Thank you, Emilio. I will get the plates to the kitchen when I'm finished." Yes, how he had missed this moments.

With a small bow, Emilio left the room and returned to the kitchen, where the others were already enjoying their usual morning coffee… and, in Roberto's case, morning smoke.

"What did Lord Xibalba say about the breakfast?" Regina inquired.

"He loved it, as usual. Well, maybe more than usual now."

"Here you go." Regina handed Emilio his cup of coffee, taking a sip from her own cup. They drank their coffee and chatted like every morning, noticing that Lord Xibalba was taking longer with his breakfast than usual.

"Don't worry, Regina, he takes his time…" Roberto chuckled. "Especially after not eating any of your food for ten days... to me that would feel like a decade or even more." said Roberto

Before anyone could reply, Xibalba entered the kitchen with the tray, receiving, _again_ , a reverence from all the present lizards.

"Thank you very much for the breakfast, Regina." Xibalba smiled at the female lizard. "All five of you, in the throne room in five minutes."

At those words, the lizards started to tremble lightly; though they had the feeling they had nothing to be afraid of, actually.

Five minutes later, the lizards were going into the throne room and found their master in his throne, all comfortable and with a big cup of tea in his hands, he seemed to be relaxed.

"Is there anything we can do for you, My Lord?" Emilio asked, looking up at him in concern

Xibalba was still smiling. "Yes... I need you to tell me _all_ about your vacation."

"Our vacation?" Regina added with an uncertain look.

Roberto chirped in delight. "Well, My Lord, it was spectacular. The best vacation we had, even though it was actually the first one we have had."

"I am very glad you liked it. The Coral sea was La Muerte's idea."

"Lovely idea! Yet, I am very happy to be home again…" Juarez sighed. "Home sweet home." said Juarez

"And I guess that you also visited some other places as well?"

Juarez nodded. "France, and we visited the Chambord castle... Roberto's old home."

"It was so weird when I saw a painting of me… then some tourists saw me...and then the painting. "Roberto said nervously as he fidgeted with his tail.

Xibalba tried to contain his laughter, going as far as to cover his mouth with his hand, until he managed to speak. "Let's just hope that the Kings haven't found out about this."

"Then we went to Spain." Roberto quickly changed the subject before his master could laugh at him, and glanced at Juarez, who was smiling with pride.

"Really? And let me guess, the royal stables were the main attraction?"

"Well, actually, no one is allowed to go into the royal palace, but since we have _our_ ways, we managed to enter..."Juarez shruged.

"And by 'our ways ' you mean..?"

"We knocked the guards unconscious." Emilio said, sighing in dismay. "My stainless legal record ruined…"

Xibalba couldn't contain his laughter after Emilio's comment. "Please tell me nobody saw you! You could have gotten arrested for that!"

"Nobody saw us, and it was nighttime." Juarez said, relieved that his master had actually caught on the joke they had made.

"Then we visited England... The Cromwell Family mansion to be more precise. The place where Emilio lived and Regina hung around." Roberto added with a snicker.

Regina and Emilio looked at each other with a shy look.

"And do you have a problem with that, mister?" Regina said, with a surprisingly perfect English accent.

Xibalba was beyond amazed at the sudden language. "My, I didn't know you could talk like that, Regina."

Juarez grinned. "And she is not the only one." He glanced at Emilio.

"Eyup." Lorenzo nodded.

"I have not the slightest of idea of what you are talking about." Emilio said with the English accent as well, trying to contain his smile.

"And what did you guys do there?" Xibalba inquired, still bewildered at Regina and Emilio's newfound accent.

"We almost met the queen! We were so close!" Roberto groaned in a mixture of excitement and frustration.

"What happened?"

"Some stupid French aristocrat wanted to visit a museum first, and we lost the track of time" Regina said with crossed arms.

"Am I hearing things? Roberto in a museum, since when?" Xibalba inquired curiously, glancing at Roberto.

"Since he found out about his origins. And it is actually very weird. I mean, I remember Spanish, which I couldn't talk till now, and Roberto speaks French rather fluently." Juarez explained. "Emilio and Regina can even speak with the English accent."

"All you needed were a few images of your life to have all the information in your subconscious to come back to you. Memories from further back should come back to you eventually, maybe from your early years in life."

The lizards looked at each other with curious eyes... Xibalba was right in one thing, further memories had stared to come back as they saw the places they lived at, and who they were. Before they could say anything, La Muerte entered the throne room, accompanied by two skeletal figures.

Xibalba stood up from his throne and approached his wife.

"I told you I would pay you a visit today," La Muerte smiled as she walked closer to him and planted a small kiss on his lips, not forgetting there were other people in the room. She turned towards the lizards and smiled down at them, receiving a small reverence from them.

"I am glad to see you back, guys. Xibalba was telling me how much he missed your food, Regina…" La Muerte smirked.

"Oh, I know." Regina giggled, before she felt two pairs of eyes on her, and her humor instantly vanished. "Hello, you two" she said coldly as she glanced at Santiago and Ronela.

"Hello, Regina, Emilio, guys…" Santiago said nervously with a shy wave of his hand, doing his best to keep calm. But soon he felt his Mistress's hard look on him, and he looked down, ashamed of what he and his partner had done.

"Yes?" Juarez inquired, motioning them to speak whatever they had to say.

"We asked Lady La Muerte to bring us here because… Well, we actually wanted to ... apologize to you for the way we acted." Ronela sighed, they could tell it was very hard for her to do this. "We're very sorry." Yet she sounded sincere.

The lizards exchanged surprised glances, only to see Emilio smiling at the other two spirits.

"Hmmm…" Emilio was looking at them, then his glance fixed on Santiago.

"I believe we owe you an apology on personal level as well." Santiago continued. "You are indeed pretty special, guys. You deserve everything that happened to you and... We promise that we won't see you less because you are reptilian anymore."

Roberto frowned and cracked his knuckles in an almost threatening way. "You better… otherwise, we'll beat you up. Watch out, we are not who you think we are"

Lorenzo glared at Santiago. "Eyup."

"Oh yes, I know…" Santiago rubbed his head and glanced at Lorenzo, recalling the big punch he had given him. "I am well aware of that…" he glanced at Ronela, who nodded quickly in agreement.

"So...what do you say guys? Are we cool?" Ronela inquired, fidgeting with her fingers.

Emilio and the others glanced at each other, thinking if they should forgive them just like that, but before they could say anything, Roberto burst out into laughter and approached Ronela with a smile.

"Ay Ronela! I blamed you for everything, indeed! What you did was very bad, and could have cost us a lot considering Tláloc wanted to kill Regina for 'poisoning him', but... I guess that we could come to an agreement and get along... _If_ you can actually overcome your stupid pride and try to be more open minded," he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

Ronela was taken by surprise by his gesture, and blushed deeply. "Hmm... I think we can do that Alain."

Roberto's smile vanished and he glanced at her in surprise. "B-but that's my... how did you...?"

"We kind of also have our ways... you are not the only ones with tricks under your sleeves." Ronela decided to play along, giving him a sly smile. Roberto was surprised at her response, but then he glanced at other lizards' surprised expressions. "What? Come on, guys… I think they are telling the truth."

Emilio glanced suspiciously at Santiago, looking for any signs of distrust. He glanced at Xibalba, who gave him a nod with a small smile; he probably knew their intentions, considering he had his Soul Gaze. Emilio let out a sigh in defeat. "One chance..."

Santiago and Ronela smiled at him, nodding, the latter shaking hands with Emilio as a sign of peace between them. They were so distracted no one took notice that Regina had walked out of the throne room, and then heading back to the kitchen, smiling; she was beyond happy now that there was finally peace back in the castle, not to mention their souls, again.

She looked down at the diamond pendant around her neck and started to fidget with it. She swore she could feel life emanating from it... her lost child, close to her heart forevermore. Finally, after all these weeks of tears and sadness, she felt both relieved and happy that everything had gone back to normal… well, almost. Xibalba was right all along, all they needed were a few images, and the memories had started to flow trough her mind like an endless film.

She poured some tea in a small cup and enjoyed her time alone to relax and think about what had happened these past weeks.

"Regina..."

Regina was startled when a voice from behind called her name out of sudden, and she dropped the cup on the floor, shattering it into pieces, spilling its contents on the marble floor. Emilio jumped back in embarrassment.

"Ay, Emilio! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" she turned to him, still shaking from the fright.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Emilio apologized as he approached and kneeled down to clean up the broken cup and spilled tea. Regina fetched two new cups and poured some extra tea, handing Emilio one of the cups. There was an awkward silence between them. Regina noticed that Emilio was struggling to find words to start a conversation. She smiled at him and decided to break the silence first.

"Can you believe it, Emilio? I still can't. Of all the others… we met in life. Maybe not in the best circumstances but… Well, I'm still surprised."

"Yes...me too. I mean, which were the chances?" Emilio caught a glimpse of her pendant, the guilt still eating him from the inside. He felt terrible for the way he acted towards her. How ironic that he was madly in love with her... He had thought that it was just a temporal crush, and that after death people couldn't fall in love anymore… Well, he had.

Regina caught a glimpse of his sad expression, and noticed his eyes were fixed on the pendant. She placed the cup aside and stroked his cheek with her thumb, smiling lovingly at him. "It was not your fault, you stubborn mule. When will you understand that?" she said, lifting his head so that his eyes would meet hers.

Emilio didn't have the courage to speak, tears forming in his eyes again.

"No, Emilio, no more tears. We had plenty of these in the last weeks. I can't bear to see any more tears on anyone's eyes." Regina managed to earn a small smile from him, and Emilio managed to contain his tears. Before she could say anything, Emilio grabbed her hands, looking at her eyes.

"Regina..." He couldn't believe what he was going to do... there was pure determination in his eyes as he tried to find the right words.

"Yes...?" she inquired.

"You know that I am not good with words, I've never been… Especially around you, but… I can't go on without telling you this anymore." Emilio locked eyes with her, and he didn't know how, but the words came out easier than he thought. " _Te amo!_ "

At those words, Regina's eyes widened in surprise, not because of the revelation, but because he had actually gathered the courage to confess it… She had known he had a crush on her for a while, though, she wasn't blind or foolish to fail to notice all the signs: the way he looked at her, how he stuttered and blushed whenever he spent time with her, the way the others were always teasing him for this... Still, she smiled at him, stroking his cheek to calm him down a bit, nodding.

"I know ..." She leaned closer and kissed his cheek, making Emilio blush deeply, she could even swear that she felt his scaly skin moistening with sweat…

"AL FIN!"

Regina and Emilio jumped in fright and turned around to find Roberto, Juarez and Lorenzo peeking from the door, laughing and cheering at the sight.

"I thought I'd never see this...! _Now_ I officially believe in miracles!" Juarez blurted out while trying to contain his laughter, but failed miserably.

"Eyup!" Lorenzo cheered, patting Emilio's back.

"Don't you have anything better to do?!" Emilio snapped at them with a deep frown, angry that they had ruined the moment.

Roberto laughed. "Come on, Emilio! You _actually_ did it! You finally told her! I swear, you kept me waiting!"

Regina just watched with a smile as the three teased Emilio. This was where she belonged... with them and her master. Nobody would ever take them away, not even their greatest wishes and desires... Nothing would ever make them leave their Lord and Master, whom they had been with ever since he came into the world.

How she had missed these small arguments...


End file.
